Betty White (1922-2021)

by Nathaniel R

One of the most beloved actors, no... make that one of the most beloved people, period, has died. We must unfortunately say goodbye to the Emmy-winning legend Betty White. The longest lived of The Golden Girls was just three weeks shy of her Centennial when she passed away. 

Betty White was more than just The Golden Girls though that sitcom rightfully leads any discussion of her career. That's what happens when you spend eight years of your life perfecting the same character, the dim but utterly loveable/hilarious Rose Nylund, and the show housing her morphs from risky bet (a sitcom about sexually active lively old ladies in youth-obsessed prudish America?) to surprise smash (the Golden Girls spent six of its seven seasons among the 10 most-watched programs on air) to immortal favourite within your life time. People talk about The Golden Girls so often nearly 30 years after it went off the air that it truly feels as if it never did. It did. But, in a very real way Betty White did not... 

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What did you see this week?

Time has lost all meaning. What is a weekend? How long will the vestiges of taking stock of the last "work week" or weekend of new movies on a Sunday last only because that's when we used to take stock of things in the pre-pandemic world? At any rate... how is your movie or TV watching these days? Tell us in the comments, won'cha? I'll share two of my own screening adventures after the jump...

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Almost There: Donald Sutherland in "Ordinary People"

by Cláudio Alves

Donald Sutherland is one of those actors who seem to be Oscar nominees even if they're not. Like Mia Farrow or John Goodman, Sutherland has been in so many awarded productions that he feels like the sort of person who should have the words "Academy Award nominee" appear before his name in trailers. He's almost an institution of American Cinema, his filmography full of historically important titles such as MASH and Klute. To think such a respected actor is still without an Oscar nomination is slightly inconceivable, but the lack of accolades never shocked Donald Sutherland himself.

In 1980, he was the only main actor of Best Picture-winner Ordinary People to be ignored by the Academy. When asked about the snub, he said: "I'm not surprised. I know that community and I didn't expect a nomination." That doesn't mean he didn't deserve one…

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Showbiz History: Mary Tyler Moore Debut, Charlie Chaplin Exile, Brangelina Split

10 random things that happened today, September 19th, in showbiz history

1913 Frances Farmer born in Seattle. She becomes a movie star and is eventually committed to an asylum as told in the movie Frances (1982) -- See, American Horror Story wasn't the first time Jessica Lange won awards for living in an asylum. 

1927 Happy 92nd birthday to Tony winner and Oscar nominee Rosemary Harris! We thank her for all her fine performances and for bringing another great actress, Jennifer Ehle, into the world...

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Link by Day

Coming Soon Beauty and the Beast has an original song called "Evermore," sung in the film by Dan Stevens and in the end credits by Josh Groban. Uff, I've never liked Disney's "do overs" in the end credits. They're always worse than the in-film version
Variety Beauty and the Beast also got character posters
MNPP a pic of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal we'd never seen before!
The Playlist on 30 breakouts of the Sundance Film Festival 
David Poland La La Land backlash and why you should give the movie its due

 

Boy Culture celebrities pay tribute to Mary Tyler Moore
MTV Teo Bugbee on Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People (1980) 
The Daily Beast Lois Smith has a breakout role at 86 in Marjorie Prime
Film Mixtape Chris Feil's top fifteen of the year
Art of the Title looks back at Madonna's Who's That Girl (1987) opening credits. Loved those
/Film Sing already set for a sequel for Christmas 2020
Unicorn Booty 100 intriguing LGBT artists, characters, and people to watch
Awards Watch shares the GALECA winners with prizes to Moonlight, The Dressmaker, Christine, The Handmaiden, and more 
Gurus of Gold rank the Oscar nominees in order of likelihood to win... 
Film School Rejects The Flash movie is going back to the drawing board. No script. No director.
MNPP on 'the tell' in tense films and Asghar Farhadi's crazy skill with them in The Salesman 
Variety Ben Affleck's Live by Night is a big financial loss for Warner Bros